To Be Loved by Someone You Hate
by MirrorDede
Summary: Post-Retrace 54 exploration of love and hate, especially in the relationships of Vincent x Ada, and Vincent x Break. Reim and Oscar also make appearances on this moonlit night outside of Yura Isla's mansion...


**Summary:** Post-Retrace 54 exploration of love and hate, especially in the relationships of Vincent x Ada, and Vincent x Break. Reim and Oscar also make appearances on this moonlit night outside of Yura Isla's mansion...

()

Having quickly dispatched Fang and Lily, Xerxes Break was in quite a state. He'd used Mad Hatter on them and knew he only had so much time before he'd pass out from coughing up blood. His friend Reim was on his mind…the last he'd heard, the man was dead, but he hadn't been able to confirm it himself. So he was hurrying back to Yura Isla's mansion to try to find him.

On the way, he encountered Vincent and Ada, who had escaped from the burning mansion and were walking through the garden, arm in arm.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, Mr. Hatter?" asked Vincent with a smile.

Break glared at him. He was blind but recognized the voice of this man he detested; this man who was indirectly responsible for the loss of his left eye.

"None of your business. You're blocking my way, Sewer Rat."

Ada looked at Vincent, then back at Break. The contrast between Break's tense anger and Vincent's fragile calm made her nervous.

"Vincent-sama," she said, tugging on his arm. "We should get out of his way."

"I really don't want to, Ada-sama," Vincent said, dropping Ada's arm and stepping so close to Break that their chests almost touched. "Your breath smells pleasant, Mr. Hatter, like earl gray tea."

Break stepped back and unsheathed his sword, still dripping with Baskerville blood.

Ada jumped in front of Vincent and put her arms out protectively.

"Please don't, M-Mr. Hatter!" she cried.

Break tried to force a smile on his face, but his eyebrows were arched menacingly.

"And just what do you have to gain from protecting this despicable man, Miss Ada?"

"Oh, I-I…" she stammered and blushed. "…I love him! T-that's it…I protect him because I love him!"

Vincent looked shocked for a moment, and then smiled. He put his arms around her from behind and drew her close. Break looked like he was about to throw up. _Who could love this man? How could he have friends, and a girlfriend, and I-_

"Hmph," said Break, whacking a rosebush with his sword. "I wonder what your uncle Oscar will think when he finds out, Miss Ada." He thrashed the bush a couple more times and then jumped through the damaged shrub and took off running toward the mansion.

Ada sighed. She leaned back into Vincent, and they entwined their fingers together. He kissed her gently on the neck…she exhaled and turned around, then pressed her lips against his. After several long luscious moments of tender kisses, she allowed herself to go limp in his arms and he lay her on the ground and snuggled beside her.

Ada thought:_ this man is so dreamy, so kind, so beautiful…he glows with sweetness, light and passion…I want to have his babies!_

Meanwhile Vincent thought: _this woman is so soft, so pliable, so weak… I hate the light behind her eyes, this honest light that shows the world things I don't want exposed. She says she loves me…no one has ever said that to me before. I don't know how to deal with it. Can I possibly love a girl who I detest?_

()

At the same time, Break reentered the mansion though a window and returned to the room where he'd left Reim, unconscious – or dead – on the floor. Luckily the fire had not reached this part of the mansion yet.

"Reim?" he called out. _Strange, I don't feel his presence here anymore._ Break walked up and down the room feeling with his cane to try to find the man, who he knew must be lying on the floor still. But even after canvassing the room twice, he still hadn't found any sign of him.

Break fell to his knees at the spot where he knew Reim must have been, and felt around the floor with his hands. _The floor is still warm in this spot, compared to this other spot_. He felt something wet on his fingers, and smelled to see what it might be. _Blood. Reim's blood. He was here, but now he's not. Where could he have gone? Did he walk away on his own or did someone carry him?_

Break stood up and left the room. _He couldn't have gone far. I need to find him before the strain of having used my power earlier overwhelms me._ Wondering down the hall, he bumped into Oscar.

"Have you seen Reim?" asked Break, grabbing the side of the wall for support.

"No, I haven't," said Oscar. "I'm looking for Ada."

Break half-smiled mischievously, "I saw her out in the garden with Vincent…did you know she's quite madly in love with that…Nightray boy?"

"What?" Oscar flushed and balled up his fists. "Urrggh! Show me!" He grabbed Break's arm and dragged him along. Within minutes the two of them were outside, and could hear moaning sounds coming from between the rows of roses.

Oscar burst onto to the scene and saw Ada on top of Vincent, grinding her hips against his. Oscar grabbed Ada and pulled her off the other man.

"_This_ behavior is totally inappropriate for a Vessalius woman," growled Oscar, clenching Ada's shoulders with his rough hands. "Or any young lady for that matter! Especially my dear niece."

"Oh, Uncle…I c-can explain…" said Ada, smoothing down her dress.

"Explain it in the carriage on the way home." He hauled her toward their carriage, lambasting her the whole way.

Vincent - agitated after being the recipient of Ada's affections - seized Break's hand, spun him around and planted a kiss on his lips. Break's cane sword clattered to the ground, his eye flew open and he tried to cry out in protest, but Vincent's lips were firmly locked on his, and his arms were pinned to his sides by the other man's embrace.

_This is what I need right now, _thought Vincent. _I need this man's darkness to mesh with my own, his seething hatred is so familiar…so comfortably familiar. So unlike that Vessalius woman whose love I don't understand._

Break turned his head sharply to get away from the insistent kiss, and took a gasping breath as Vincent's attention turned toward nibbling up and down his neck. _I need to find Reim_, he thought. _He could be bleeding to death somewhere. _

"Nii-san tries to get away from me, too," Vincent said, ripping Break's cravat off him and flinging it to the ground. Break thought about Vincent forcing himself on his brother Gilbert this way and felt a modest wave of sympathy for his messy haired subordinate.

The strain of using Mad Hatter earlier that evening was beginning to affect him; he could barely stand, let alone protest, and as Vincent's kisses worked their way down his neck to his collarbone, he began coughing up blood.

"Poor Mr. Hatter," murmured Vincent, teasing the nape of the other man's neck with his tickling tongue. The sight of the blood on Break's chin gave him chills…_I need to torture someone_…he reached into his pocket for his scissors.

()

Meanwhile, Reim had dragged himself out of the mansion and had collapsed unconscious in the rosebushes. He saw nothing but blackness; his mind was empty. But he was still alive. And slowly, thoughts began to come, thoughts of his friend Xerxes. He thought he heard Xerxes coughing and it concerned him enough that he woke from his unconscious state.

Reim opened his eyes and perceived scuffling just a few feet away. He dragged himself toward the opening in the bushes and blinked his eyes a few times. His vision was mediocre without his glasses, and he thought his eyes might be playing tricks when he saw Xerxes Break on the ground in Vincent Nightray's arms. A surge of jealous confusion swirled around his insides, and he cocked his head to one side to better see what was happening. He couldn't see Break's face, but heard him moan a little, while Vincent reached his hand inside Break's shirt and planted a kiss on the white-haired man's head.

"Poor Mr. Hatter," said Vincent, caressing the semi-conscious man. "To be loved by someone you hate. It's hard, isn't it? I know very well what you're going through. There, there, let me bandage your cuts." He untied Break's cravat and wrapped it around his wrist, which was bleeding from Vincent's scissory affections.

Reim looked on in horror. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Break's cane sword on the ground. _Xerxes doesn't look like he's in any state to use this, thought Reim. And I don't trust myself with it. But something's got to be done. I've got to help him! _He took a deep breath and shouted,

"Xerxes! Wake up, Xerx!" Reim thought, _Break would only let Vincent do that sort of thing to him if he were unwell. He used Mad Hatter - damn that idiot._

Break's head slowly came up from where it had been unwillingly nuzzled into Vincent's neck.

"Reim…_Reim?_" said Break, his voice gravelly. _Why does my wrist hurt so bad? Who is this person…so close to me…the sewer rat?_

Vincent's attention turned to the voice in the bushes, and he saw Reim's bloody figure laying there, his eyes shining in the moonlight, his mouth gaped open in surprise.

"Vincent Nightray…" Reim's countenance grew angry and he summoned what little strength he had left. "You leave him alone!"

"Reim-san," said Vincent, wiping the blood off his scissors. "I didn't recognize you at first, all bloodied up on the ground there without your glasses. I'll leave Mr Hatter to you, then. I've had my fun for the evening." He pocketed his scissors and stood up, leaving Break to collapse in the dirt. "Have a good night!" He waltzed off in the direction of the carriages_. Hatter, we'll play again some day I hope. I really do like you. And I hate you, too_. He squeezed his fists together and his eyes narrowed to slits. _It's like how I feel about Ada…I hate her and yet…she…she…could I possibly love her back?_

Reim crawled over to Break, who was trying to sit up, but a sudden coughing fit was taking most of his energy.

"Reim…" gasped Break, wiping blood off his chin with his sleeve. "You're alive…"

"Of course I'm alive, you idiot."

"Now who's an idiot! We thought you were dead and I hacked up two Baskervilles on account of it."

"You shouldn't have used your power so indiscriminately, Xerx." Reim looked at him, his face wracked with concern.

Break raised the arm Vincent had cut up above his heart to try to quell the throbbing.

"My plans are all ruined now…"

"Ungrateful, unappreciative bastard, you," muttered Reim, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Break tried to look into Reim's eyes, and felt a sudden sadness.

"Thanks for scaring Vincent off," Break said, bowing his head.

"Not a problem, Xerx. And you know…we'll just have to come up with a new plan."

Break smiled. "We're good at that. Coming up with plans."

"Indeed we are," Reim smiled back.

**END**

_I hope the ending wasn't too lame. I just woke up with the urge to write this, and out it tumbled. I was mainly trying to sort out my feelings about how Vincent might view Ada at this point, along with a strong urge I had to see him molest Break. I was partly inspired by a tidbit I recently read in the official character guide, where Vincent claims to both like and dislike Break. The Vincent focus got a little sidetracked by my apparently overwhelming need to have Break and Reim find each other, and for the latter to still be alive. So …it is what it is._


End file.
